Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE) Stock

DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE) had its price objective raised by Morgan Stanley from $131.00 to $136.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of DTE Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $129.00 to $143.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Guggenheim upgraded shares of DTE Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays downgraded shares of DTE Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $137.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on DTE Energy from $137.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, KeyCorp cut DTE Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.82.

DTE Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DTE opened at $136.81 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.46. DTE Energy has a 12 month low of $103.06 and a 12 month high of $137.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $127.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.79.

DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.01. DTE Energy had a return on equity of 12.42% and a net margin of 11.27%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that DTE Energy will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

DTE Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $1.09 dividend. This represents a $4.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. DTE Energy’s payout ratio is 64.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at DTE Energy

In other DTE Energy news, CAO Tracy J. Myrick sold 1,014 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.92, for a total transaction of $131,738.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $446,535.04. The trade was a 22.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Joann Chavez sold 7,062 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.40, for a total value of $935,008.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,862,470.80. This represents a 33.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,877 shares of company stock valued at $1,559,205. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DTE Energy

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of DTE Energy by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,362 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $560,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of DTE Energy by 9.3% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of DTE Energy by 2.2% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 99,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,715,000 after acquiring an additional 2,170 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in DTE Energy by 21,380.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its stake in DTE Energy by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 20,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,592,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. 76.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

DTE Energy Company Profile

DTE Energy Company engages in the utility operations. The company's Electric segment generates, purchases, distributes, and sells electricity to various residential, commercial, and industrial customers in southeastern Michigan. It generates electricity through coal-fired plants, hydroelectric pumped storage, and nuclear plants, as well as wind and solar assets.